Cavaliers Unleash The Bomb

Virginia has played just one game, but the Cavaliers look like a different team from last year.

First play of the game, and away the ball went, out of quarterback Marques Hagans' right hand, toward the end zone. Wide receiver Ottowa Anderson caught it before going down at the Western Michigan 6-yard line. Silence for a moment -- disbelief perhaps -- among the 61,000-strong at Scott Stadium.

Sixteen seconds and that 57-yard pass was all it took for Hagans, Anderson and the Virginia football offense to show that these Cavaliers have the potential to be very different from last year's run-oriented group.

Granted, the pass came in U.Va.'s season opener two weeks ago against Western Michigan, which lost to Toledo 56-23 last Saturday. And who knows if Hagans can replicate his opening-night performance, a college-high 252 passing yards, on Saturday at Syracuse?

But U.Va. coach Al Groh thinks Hagans is more qualified now to complete deep passes. Hagans might have to throw more often if running back Wali Lundy misses the game with a sprained left foot he suffered in the opener. Backups Michael Johnson and Jason Snelling, a fullback, both fumbled twice after replacing Lundy, and Cedric Peerman is just a redshirt freshman.

Lundy's status is still questionable. Here are five more questions as the Cavaliers prepare to face the Orange in the Carrier Dome for the first time.

SO IS THIS THE BEGINNING OF MARQUES HAGANS, POCKET PASSER?

"He can launch it 80 yards any time, anywhere," said Bill Musgrave, the Washington Redskins' quarterbacks coach who held the same position at U.Va. during Hagans' first two years. "He can throw it like very few people on the face of the earth can."

OK, so that might be a stretch. But Hagans in the opener completed three passes for at least 40 yards: the 57-yarder to Anderson, a 40-yarder to Deyon Williams later in the first quarter and a 46-yarder to Anderson in the second. Hagans' previous career-long pass was 54 yards last year against Syracuse.

Don't peg the Cavs as a passing team just yet. Hagans threw 25 passes against Western Michigan, and U.Va. ran 41 times. Last year's averages: 23.7 passing attempts per game, 45.8 rushing.

WHO ARE THESE GUYS PLAYING RECEIVER FOR VIRGINIA?

Believe it or not, they are, indeed, U.Va. wideouts.

Anderson led the group in the opener with 109 yards -- the first time in 29 games that a Virginia wide receiver had at least 100 yards. Groh faced questions about the receivers' abilities throughout the preseason. And at least against Western Michigan -- 1-10 a year ago -- the Cavs' wideouts appeared able.

Kevin Ogletree is one of three true freshman receivers who didn't line up in Week 1. But Groh indicated that, with some progress, Ogletree would play.

WILL THE CAVALIERS EVEN NEED AHMAD BROOKS ON SATURDAY?

When the curtain went up on the Greg Robinson Era two weeks ago in the Carrier Dome, the Orange offense flopped.

Syracuse had 103 yards of total offense -- its lowest since 1976. The Orange is struggling as it adjusts to the West Coast offense Robinson has installed in his first season. (Dismiss the 487 yards Syracuse gained Saturday against garbage opponent Buffalo.)

Brooks, an inside linebacker and U.Va.'s best defensive player, has been MIA so far as he recovers from offseason knee surgery. Conservative thinking says to let Brooks recuperate more. Cynical minds know that, if the Cavs lose, they'd regret keeping Brooks out when he could play -- even at less than 100 percent.

IF LUNDY IS OUT, WHO IS IN AT RUNNING BACK?

Peerman seems like the logical choice, if only because he showed in limited duty that he can actually hold onto the ball. But it's hard to bench Johnson's speed. He ran 4.2 seconds in the 40-yard dash last year, Lundy said.

Unless Peerman keeps up his first-game success (16 carries for 69 yards and a touchdown) and Johnson stops fumbling, it's clear -- and obvious -- that U.Va.'s running game hinges on Lundy's presence.

WHAT KIND OF WEST COAST OFFENSE IS THIS?

Syracuse quarterback Perry Patterson played pitifully against West Virginia: 15 of 31 for 85 yards and two interceptions. Against Buffalo, the Orange passed 22 times and ran 55 times -- numbers reminiscent of the previous regime, which, under Paul Pasqualoni, favored rushing and often displayed aerial impotence.

Whatever happened to the West Coast offense relying on short passes rather than runs?

Well, Syracuse's players were recruited for Pasqualoni's system, not Robinson's. Which explains why the starting receivers, sophomore Rice Moss and junior Tim Lane, entered the season with four combined catches. *